Blast From the Past
by blondie-moyashi
Summary: After all that's been going on at headquarters, Lavi and Allen decide to go on a little vacation. Needless to say, things go horribly wrong and they end up being the prime suspects in an NCIS case.
1. Curiosity Killed the Exorcists

So the other day I was thinking about in D. Gray-Man, Allen said he couldn't create a doorway to the Ark in a location he'd never been. And that got me thinking, what would happen if he _did_ try it?

I do not own D. Gray-Man or NCIS

* * *

><p>"Allen? Eh, Allen." Lavi was standing a few feet away from Allen, who was indulging in a large plate of food. By the time Lavi could try and figure out exactly what it was Allen was eating, it was gone.<p>

"Hey, Allen. I've got dangos!" Allen turned around.

"Really?" Allen looked around for a few seconds before realizing that Lavi had lied about having the dangos. He turned back around.

They'd just gotten back from the mission in Edo a couple days ago, and their injuries from the mission had mostly healed. It was tough, but they finally found Marshal Cross, and returned with the Ark, which was a huge help. Then the Level 4 showed up, wrecking the place. The higher ups were planning on moving HQ to another location.

And luckily, the Science Division had finished repairing Lavi's hammer and Yu's Mugen. They'd also gotten their new uniforms.

"Hey, Allen. I'm bored. Let's go somewhere."

"I'm hungry. Let's stay here."

Lavi rolled his eyes. "Allen, you've been stuffing your face for the past half hour, non-stop. Can't you take a break so we can do something interesting."

Allen finished wolfing down a sandwich and turned to face Lavi. "What do you mean 'interesting?'"

"Well," Lavi said, is smile growing. "You can go anywhere on the Ark, right?"

"Not a chance." Allen turned around again and started digging into the food again.

"Aw, come on! Why not?"

"Wef fonf know iff itf fafe to ufe fee Arf fet." After a few seconds, Lavi realized that Allen was trying to say that they didn't know if it was safe to use the Ark yet.

But we'll never know if we don't try it." Lavi smiled. "Bean Sprout."

Allen stopped mid-bite. "My name is Allen."

"What's the matter? Did I strike a nerve, Bean Sprout?"

"Allen . . ."

"I'll stop calling you Bean Sprout if you take me somewhere." Allen remained silent. "Bean—"

"Fine! I'll take you somewhere, okay?" Allen stood up, turning his back on one last plate of chicken and rice, which Timcanpy cleaned up before flying after Allen and Lavi, whose walking was a mix of walking and skipping.

"Do you think we should wear our Exorcist jackets? Just to be safe?"

"Fine."

~ Five minutes later ~

"We're only going one place, so you'd better choose, Lavi."

"Hhmm . . . An island? No, a rainforest."

They were standing on the staircase in front of the entrance to the Ark. Despite Lavi's cheer, Allen felt uneasy. Not only was it only his second time making a new Ark doorway, but if something went wrong, it was all on Allen.

"This is what I mean, Lavi. We could get in enough trouble just going to one place. And we're not going to linger, either. So just pick one place. Quick."

"Fine, Bean Sprout."

"Allen."

"Let's go to the Galapagos islands."

Allen sighed, closing his while trying to imagine what they would look like. Sand, water, trees . . . He opened his eyes.

"Okay, let's go."

They stepped into the Ark. The white was blinding at first, then they adjusted to it. There were several doors, one with a hand-written sign saying "Asia Branch." Looking around, Allen and Lavi saw only one door, other than the door to the Asia branch, that had light streaming out from under it.

"That must be it," Lavi said, smiling. Allen sighed, following his friend toward the door. Lavi opened it, and was ready to step inside.

There was a whirring sound, and Lavi turned around to see Allen's eye and Crown Clown had activated.

"You've gotta be kidding! Akuma on the Ark? How many?"

Allen was looking around without moving his head. "Just one. And it's close."

"Behind you!" Lavi shouted as Allen turned to see a Level Two Akuma come flying towards him. Allen jumped out of the way, and the Akuma flew past him, colliding with the door Lavi had opened. It fell through the doorway."

Allen's eyes widened. "We have to go after him, or innocent people will be in danger!"

"Then let's do it."

The young Exorcists ran through the doorway.

Gibbs closed his phone. "Well, apparently someone does. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Ziva walked through the elevator door, walking toward her desk. Setting down her backpack, she looked at McGee and DiNozzo sitting at their desks. Each were very intently looking at their computer screens.<p>

"I would ask, but I'm a little afraid," Ziva said, sitting down at her desk. As usual, Gibbs hadn't arrived yet. Looking back to the guys, she figured that they weren't on or whatever it was, because they weren't making weird faces or poses.

"Contest online. Please shush." Ziva glared at DiNozzo. He only had that tone when he was really getting into something. Now she _was getting curious._

"What kind of contest?"

DiNozzo sighed, looking up at her long enough to say a sentence. "."

"But then why aren't you making a wind guitar?"

He glared at her over the computer screen. "It's called an air guitar, Ziva. And this is a different contest."

For the first time in the conversation, McGee joined in. "This contest is the best 1800s dress. Basically, dress up like you're in the 1800s, and if your outfit is the best, you win. And I can almost guarantee mine will put yours to shame, Tony."

"Keep hoping, Probie. I'm looking at an outfit that will blow yours away.

"What's the point?"

"It's a contest, Ziva. Bragging rights." DiNozzo sounded annoyed now, if he didn't before. "And it's nation-wide, so you're competing against thousands of other people."

"Then there's no point, because you almost certainly won't be able to beat thousands of other people by just looking on the Internet for an outfit."

"Ziva, just let me and the Probie worry about it ourselves!"

_They don't stand a chance, Ziva thought, rolling her eyes to at least make it look like she'd been working for when Gibbs arrived._

Allen and Lavi sat up, rubbing their heads. Apparently the Ark entrance was off the ground, which made for a less-than-graceful landing. Lavi opened his eyes first.

"Allen." Allen looked at Lavi, following his friend's gaze and saw the Akuma that they had followed out of the Ark.

"I'll let you handle this one, Allen." Allen outstretched his left arm as a white coat formed around his shoulders and his left hand transformed, displaying silver claws where his fingers were.

Allen jumped into the air, soaring towards the Akuma. When he was close enough, he saw the Akuma shooting at someone. While he was glad for the distraction, Allen knew he had to hurry if he wanted to save the person.

"Crown Clown . . . Edge End!"

"I'm telling you, Probie. You won't be able to beat the outfit I'm getting."

"Yeah, except you're ordering yours online, Tony. I'm only buying one piece."

"But I'm still picking mine out. So it still counts."

_These two really are pathetic._

Ziva knew that Gibbs would show up any second with a case. He always did when Tony and Tim really got into their arguments.

Ducky walked in front of Gibbs' desk, sporting a red bow tie with blue polka-dots. "Good morning, Ziva."

"Good morning, Ducky."

"Has Jethro shown up yet?"

Ziva looked at the two idiots still arguing across from her. Well, not McGee so much, just Tony earned the title of honorary idiot. "No."

"Yes, he has." Gibbs walked past Ziva and Ducky, holding a cup of coffee. "Whatcha need, Duck?"

"Abigail asked if I had a necktie she could borrow. I doubt a bow tie is exactly what she was looking for, so I figured I'd come ask if you had one more fitting of her needs."

"Why would I have a necktie, Duck?"

"Just thought I'd check."

Gibbs' cell phone started ringing as Dr. Mallard walked away. Tony leaned towards Tim.

"Why would Abby need a tie?" he asked, and was bored by McGee's answer, a simple shrugging of his shoulders. DiNozzo looked to Ziva, who rolled her eyes. "You two have no imagination."

Gibbs closed his phone. "Well, apparently someone does. Let's go."


	2. Busted

The car pulled up to the crime scene tape, coming to a sudden stop. The team got out of the car and walked under the tape, working their hands into rubber gloves.

"What've we got, Duck?" Ducky and Palmer had already arrived, a surprising feat, considering that Gibbs was driving this time.

"This is utterly bizarre, Jethro." They were kneeling next to a Navy uniform, laid out on the ground, covered in black dust. "There's a hole in this uniform, and it looks like it was being worn. But how come there is no body? Quite strange."

Ziva turned around, hearing something in the bushes. She walked in the direction of the sound.

"I'll have to look closer at the lab, but I have no idea what could cause this, Gibbs." Ducky stood up.

"Maybe these two can help!" Everyone turned around at Ziva's words, annoyance evident in her voice.

None of them knew what to think of these teens. The first thing everyone noticed was how one of the boys had a black arm with . . . were those claws? Their hands were in the air, anyhow, so Gibbs moved his hand away from his gun resting in its holster on his belt. Ziva, however, had her weapon drawn.

The kid with the strange hand was only one of the curious things about the kids. The one with the claw-hand had white hair and a scar over his left eye, and the other had red hair, a green headband, and an eye patch. They were wearing black jackets with red pinstripes and silver cross crests. The red-head had a scarf and a strange holster on his right leg, where a small hammer was resting.

Despite their dark dress, the teens looked to be scared out of their wits. They looked around at the NCIS crew.

The white-haired boy tensed. "Not again . . ."

"What are you doing here?" Ziva's strict tone startled the boys, as if they weren't already scared enough.

The red-head put on a fake smile. "Well, see, we didn't actually mean to come _here_ . . . wherever here is . . ."

It was evident to the team that these kids wouldn't be telling them anything yet.

Gibbs looked to Tony. "DiNozzo."

Tony looked back at his boss, startled. "Boss?"

Gibbs gave him a "what do you _think_ you're supposed to do" look. "Put them in the car."

Tony didn't move, but rather looked back and forth between the two mysterious teenagers and the boss. They knew nothing about the kids; for all DiNozzo knew, they would hack him to pieces with that weird claw-hand-thing the one kid had going on. He didn't want to get near them.

"DiNozzo. Today."

Tony cleared his throat. "Yes, Boss." He could hear McGee snickering behind him as Tony walked toward the teens. _Remember, they can sense fear._ He tried to hide his nervous energy, but to no avail. He made slow, cautious steps forward.

The white-haired kid moved his left foot back ever-so slightly, to barely be noticed.

"Don't move!" Ziva yelled, making the kids and Tony jump, and earning a barely audible whimper from the kid who moved.

The kid turned his head a few degrees to partially face Ziva. "Can I just—"

"No!"

When DiNozzo got within an arm's length of the suspects, the kids looked to each other before lowering their arms to where Tony could handcuff them. Their hands were even shakier than Tony's.

Once he got the cuffs on, he stepped back, glad to have his hands intact. Being that close to claws that looked really sharp was nerve-racking.

"You're halfway done, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as though he were encouraging a toddler to finish a meal. "Now get them in the car."

The redhead closed his visible aye and slightly smiled. "We don't bite."

Tony was still cautious. He was taking small steps forward when Ziva rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for screaming out loud," Ziva said. She nudged the teens forward, in the general direction of the car. "Go."

"Yes, ma'am," the kids said in unison, and started obediently marching forward. Ziva glared at Tony as she and the teens walked in front of him.

"The phrase is 'crying out loud'," he shouted after her.

When Tony turned towards the others, he saw McGee smiling.

"Finding something funny there, McGiggle?"

"No, just the fact that you're scared of a couple of kids half your age and shorter than you."

Even Gibbs smiled at that one.

"Let's get to work, people." Gibbs looked at the clothes on the ground. "This murder won't solve itself."

* * *

><p>"I told you we shouldn't try it! But no! You were bored and convinced me to do something that I knew we shouldn't do!"<p>

As soon as Gibbs had put the teens they found at the crime scene in the interrogation room, they started yelling. Didn't they know Ducky, Ziva, McGee, and Tony could see and hear their conversation? Gibbs walked in and joined the crowd watching the kids.

"Well I just wanted to take some time off! I got tired of doing nothing but reading or watching you eat! I wanted to go somewhere for fun!"

"I get that, Lavi! Believe me, I would love nothing more than to be sitting on a beach right now! But the point is I told you we shouldn't push it!"

"Well at least now we know that you can't make an entrance to the Ark without having been to that place before."

"Yeah, but that does us no good if we can't get back home!"

The two paused to get their breath and calm down, taking seats in the chairs inside the room.

"Where do you think we are, Allen?"

"I don't know. This place is nothing like I'd pictured."

"Any guesses?"

"Well . . . I've been all across Europe, and have never seen a place as advanced as this. And it doesn't really have an Asian feel. Maybe . . . America?"

"Nowhere I've been in America . . . Allen, do you think it's possible we're in . . . the future?"

"What? If we are . . . you know what that means, right?"

"Disaster . . . And if we _do_ eventually get back . . . Lenalee will kill us, Yu will kill us, Cross will kill you, the panda will kill me . . ."

The white-haired teen put his head on the table. "And even worse . . . I won't ever have Jerry's amazing cooking again."

"Um, Allen, why is Crown Clown still activated? Isn't it tiring having it activated for so long?"

"The exhaustion offsets the hunger."

"Well, I'm sorry I interrupted your meal! But you had like, five plates left and I was bored!"

"Yeah, only five. Tim and I could've—Tim! Where's Timcanpy?"

A golden sphere with wings and a tail flew out of the kid's white collar.

The kid sighed, holding his hand palm up. The sphere landed in it. "Don't do that to me, Tim. I thought I'd lost you again."

Everyone in the observation booth had gotten so into the conversation that they didn't even notice Gibbs had walked out. When he walked into the interrogation room, everyone was shocked. He tossed a package of powdered doughnuts in front of each of the teens before sitting down.

They looked surprised, but after exchanging glances with each other took the packages. The kid with the white hair's clawed hand transformed into a regular shaped hand. It was black with long black nails and a gray cross on the back. The white coat around his shoulders disappeared.

They opened the packages and the white-haired teen started eating right away while the other was more cautious, turning one of the doughnuts. What, hadn't they seen doughnuts before?

Gibbs leaned back in his chair. Where did he start?

"So what were you boys doing out there?"

They looked at each other again, each looking worried.

The redhead looked at Gibbs. "You haven't heard of the Black Order?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"Akuma, the Millennium Earl, Exorcists, Black Clergymen, Finders, Innocence? None of it?"

Again, Gibbs shook his head. Were they making this up, or did they actually believe it?

"Tell me about it," Gibbs said in his "I'll listen" voice. "First, though, names."

"Oh, right. I'm Allen Walker."

"And I'm Lavi. I came along to keep Allen here out of trouble."

"Well _that_ worked. You're the one _causing_ the trouble!"

"Well, excuse me, Bean Sprout."

"My name's ALLEN! I'm getting tired of you and Bakanda calling me that! It's not MY fault I'm not a giant like you!"

Gibbs put his hand up, making Allen and Lavi stop their argument. "Tell me about how you got to the crime scene."

* * *

><p>I had some spare time, and I'm really getting into writing this, so I made a new chapter.<p>

Uploads from this point on will be like watching grass grow, since I'm going to have so much crap going on! But I will try to fit in a new chapter or two next month. Thanks for reading to this point! It's much appreciated ^_^


	3. Believe It or Not

Thank you for the reviews! Like promised, here's another chapter. The story'll pick up the pace in the next chapter. That'll go up within the next two weeks.

And in response to your suggestion, Jax2468, that's actually exactly where I was planning on going with the story from the start. Great minds think alike, I guess!

* * *

><p>Everyone in the observation booth had their jaws dropped. This was some crazy story these kids were telling.<p>

The Black Order and how it existed to fight the Millennium Earl and his akuma. How Exorcists with the Black Order used Innocence. How there were different types of Innocence. How they jumped more than a hundred years into the future with an Ark. The whole thing seemed just too crazy. And Gibbs just kept nodding, as if he knew what they were talking about!

There was a silence after the "Exorcists," they called themselves, finished their story.

"So," Gibbs said. "You wanted something to do, started messing with this Ark, and ended up here?"

Allen, Lavi, and the golden thing on Allen's shoulder nodded. "Timcanpy," was it?

"And our victim was killed by a weapon that destroys a human's body. And it's your job to destroy these weapons."

Another nod.

Gibbs nodded slightly. "Alright." He stood and started walking towards the door.

The kids perked up, apparently glad that Gibbs believed them.

"So you believe us?" Lavi asked.

Gibbs turned back to them, still headed to the door. "Did I _say_ I believed you?"

The Exorcists gulped.

Gibbs left them in the interrogation room, entering the observation booth. He motioned for everyone but Ducky to leave. Gibbs walked over to him, turning to face the glass.

"They seem to believe everything they told you, Jethro. I'm not saying that they actually _did_ magically appear or that they're really what they say they are. But if they _are_ making it up, they're very good liars. The best I've seen."

Ducky paused and looked at Gibbs, who was still watching the teens.

"What do you think, Jethro?"

"I don't know, Duck. It's such a crazy story, I can't believe they could make it up on the fly."

They both watched Allen and Lavi. They were both still sitting down, and Allen was playing with Timcanpy's tail.

"Hey, Allen."

"Yeah?"

"Back there, when the scary lady caught us, you said something like 'not again'. Is this not your first encounter with cops?"

Allen continued batting Timcanpy's tail with his finger. "Back when I was trying to get to the Black Order I had a run-in. It was actually Tim here's fault. He got eaten by a cat, which is what led me to an abandoned building where an akuma was, as well as a couple police officers. The akuma killed one of them, and the other passed out.

"When I took her to the police station, I was arrested." Allen straightened up and faced his friend. "Of course, this was before Crown Clown reformed, so my left hand was still red." He smiled. "They thought I'd killed the other officer and my hand was covered in blood. And this was three months after Master knocked me out with a hammer and ran off, so I was kind of weary of authority figures."

Lavi smiled. "You just can't meet anybody under good terms, can you?"

Allen stopped to think. The day he came to the Black Order's HQ and met a lot of the Exorcists was just a bad day altogether. Thinking back on all the other people he met . . .

"I guess not . . ."

The Exorcists both jumped as the door to the interrogation room slammed shut. Gibbs saw DiNozzo walk over to the teens, making a show of throwing a folder on the table and dramatically sitting in the chair. The folder was empty, because they knew nothing about the kids, but for some reason, having it there seemed to make Tony feel better, like he was in power.

When would the idiot learn? Gibbs had taken the perfect approach: sit back and listen, and don't scare them to the point where they'd pass out, which is about what they looked like now. If they were scrutinized for their crazy claims—Gibbs still didn't know if he believed them, but he suspected it was more than just some story they'd made up—they would stop telling the team anything. They would clam up and NCIS would be out of any more information they may have been able to get. Didn't DiNozzo realized this?

* * *

><p>Tony slammed his hands on the table, leaning over it to get in the kids' faces. Timcanpy flew up Allen's sleeve.<p>

"Boss may believe you, but I don't. I've never heard of anything you two boys were saying, and I've been around the block a few times."

"And over the hill," Lavi whispered to Allen, snickering. Before Allen could tell Lavi that making fun of Tony was a bad—really, _really_ bad idea—DiNozzo snapped.

"What was that, ya little freak? I could take you! Come on!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Just as Allen stepped in front of his friend to prevent the fight, the door was opened and slammed shut, again. Everyone looked over to see the man who had just left the room staring at the officer—Allen saw the badges on their belts—who had just been yelling at them.

"DiNozzo, what are you doing?" His voice was calm with a hint of curiosity. He walked over to DiNozzo, stopping just in front of him. He slapped DiNozzo on the back of his head.

DiNozzo jumped slightly. "Sorry, Boss."

As the "Boss" started chewing DiNozzo out, Allen turned to Lavi.

"And what do you think _you're_ doing?"

"He started it."

"Don't give me that, Lavi! It's already bad enough that we're being interrogated! So far, it seems they may let us go. But if you get in a fight with a cop, it could be a lot worse! I don't know about you, but I want to get home!"

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to do anything. Maybe just enlarge my hammer to scare the guy."

"They had to rebuild it, remember? It could be harder to use than you remember. You could try to make it grow and instead create a fire seal! You could kill everyone here!"

Lavi put his hands up. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Happy? I'm just _so_ bored."

"I know how you feel, but we gotta be careful."

Just as both parties finished their talks, Allen's stomach rumbled loud enough to vibrate the glass. He crumpled to the floor, clutching his stomach. "So . . . hungry . . ."

"DiNozzo."

"Boss?"

Lavi's gaze went from his friends to the two officers.

"Abby needs a break anyway. Take these two to her lab, and tell her to get some lunch."

Lavi looked at Allen again. "Did you bring some of that emergency money Komui gave you?"

After they got back from the mission in Edo, Komui had decided that from now on, he would give Allen money to use on missions for food, since the Order never really paid him.

Allen, eyes looking straight ahead of him and unmoving, took a bundle of money out of his pocket. He handed it to Lavi, eyes still not moving. One would think he was dead if not for his moving arm and growling stomach.

Lavi flipped through the money. "50 pounds? All you brought was fifty pounds?**a** What am _I_ supposed to do? I thought he gave you 200 pounds!"

"He did, but we were in a hurry and I didn't think we'd be spending a long time here."

"Do you mean English pounds," DiNozzo asked. "Those won't work here."

Lavi looked at DiNozzo, dismayed. Great. Not only was it not enough for Allen and Lavi to share, but it was the wrong currency, too. "What _will_ work here?"

"Uh, _dollars_, since it's America."

Lavi scratched his head. "Great." He looked at Allen again. "Well, looks like you're gonna starve, buddy."

"Don't say that. It's not funny." Allen's voice was perfectly monotone. He really _was_ starving if he was using _that_ tone. Despite that, Lavi thought it was hysterical.

"DiNozzo, get going."

"Yes, Boss." DiNozzo walked over to the door while Lavi helped Allen get off the floor.

"Come on, Allen. We're getting food." Despite the motivation, Allen was leaning heavily on Lavi.

Once they were in the hall, DiNozzo led the Exorcists toward the elevator. They were about halfway there when Allen figured he'd try and break the silence.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Allen Walker. And this big idiot with me is Lavi."

They continued walking, DiNozzo remaining silent. Finally he stopped in front of a big door with a line down the middle and had two buttons next to it, one with an "Up" arrow and the other with a "Down" arrow. He pressed the "Down" button.

"I heard. Name's Tony."

The doors opened and Tony stepped in, and Allen and Lavi followed. Tony pressed another button. Lavi and Allen both grabbed the metal rail on the wall when the little room they were in jolted and moved.

"What _is_ this thing?" It reminded Allen of the elevator at headquarters that had been wrecked after the Level 4 attack.

Tony looked at them like they were crazy. "What? You've never been in an elevator before?"

Allen and Lavi looked at each other, again. "Well, there's the elevator to reach Hevlaska's chamber. But it was a lot bigger and wasn't closed like this. You could look over the rail and see what you were plummeting towards."

"What's this, Lavi? Someone doesn't like heights?" It was Allen's turn to laugh at the other's weakness.

"_You_ weren't riding the thing just before it crashed."

"No, _I_ was trying to kill the Level 4 that _made_ the elevator crash."

"Yeah, why weren't you doing your job, Allen?"

"If my memory serves, that was when it about killed me. I could be mistaken, though. That night blurred together for me."

"Me, too, Allen. Me, too."

"You two done being dramatic, mysterious, and confusing? We're here." Tony's words startled Allen and Lavi. They'd forgotten he was even here.

Gulping, the Exorcists looked at the elevator doors as it came to a stop, wondering what was in store for them next.

* * *

><p><strong>a. <strong>So I Googled pounds vs. dollars, and it looks like a 1900 pound is worth about a hundred bucks, and a 2000 pound is about two bucks. After a couple web searches and much confusion, I just said that pounds are worth at least twice what dollars are. So all in all, Allen brought at least a hundred bucks.

Sorry that this is a slow chapter. It was one of those times when I wanted to just skip this and go to the good stuff, but had to have this boring bit. To make up for it, though, I refused to publish this without _some_ humor.

I have a basic idea of where I'm going with the story from here, but as always, if you have an idea you wanna share or have any constructive criticism, please put it in a review. Or write a review just for the heck of it!

If you enjoy AMVs, I ask that you check out my YouTube channel. The link's on my profile page. I edited my Favorite Authors section of my profile, as well. They're both great writers and also write DGM stuff, if you're interested.

Thank you again for reading this far. Please continue reading, once I get more chapters up ^_^

Oh, and kudos to who can guess who our favorite trouble-makers meet next (hint, there's TWO people, not just one!)


	4. Tim, Tim, and Sciuto

And the chapter you've all been waiting for!

Enjoy ^_^

* * *

><p>The first thing the Exorcists heard when the doors opened was some sort of music, if one could call it that. It had all sorts of instruments that neither Allen nor Lavi had ever heard before. It was enough to give them each a headache, but was nothing compared to what shrilling screams some Akuma produced in battle.<p>

Tony put his hand to his head, covering one ear. He walked ahead of Allen and Lavi, who followed. They went through a doorway into the room where the strange noise must have been emanating from, as it was even louder in here.

Allen and Lavi stopped in the doorway, but Tony continued over to a tall person wearing a white coat with a low black ponytail, sitting in front of a large . . . table? It was two levels and was shiny gray.

Tony tapped the person's shoulder. They turned their head toward him, and Allen recognized the figure was female. He looked at Lavi, who was all but drooling.

The woman picked up a small gray device about the size of her hand, pointed it against the wall, and pressed a button on the device. The loud noise stopped. All three of the people who just entered the room sighed with relief.

The woman turned at the sound of the two Exorcists behind her. Her bangs, her dark ponytail, her dress shirt and vest—except for her cheery eyes, make-up, and lack of sunglasses, she looked a lot like Lulubell. At that realization, the teens stiffened. Who _were_ these people?

"Are you the two I've heard about? Who were found at the crime scene?" She sounded excited, quite the opposite of her coworkers Allen and Lavi already met. Allen gulped and nodded.

She jumped out of her seat and ran over to Allen and Lavi, shaking Allen's hand violently before doing the same to Lavi. "Myname'sAbbySciuto. ButjustcallmeAbby." She sounded like she was hyped up on . . . something. It couldn't be possible for a person to talk that fast without the aid of some sort of drug or something.

A hand came down on Abby and Lavis' hands. The Exorcists and Abby looked at the person at the other end of it. The man was tall and had short brown hair, lighter than Tony's.

"Careful, Abby. You'd better calm down before you accidently pull one of their arms off."

Lavi sighed in relief when Abby let go of his hand.

"I guess you're right, McGee." She took a deep breath, eyes closed, before facing the Exorcists again. "Hi, my name is Abby. Sorry about my sugar rush. Today's just been a really good day. First, there's a new Caf-Pow flavor that I found, and then I found this old vest which I'm going to wear as my entry for the 1800's dress contest, and then I heard that there were some weird kids found at the crime scene, and that Ducky and Gibbs are completely baffled about the case—which Gibbs is never baffled—and—"

"Abby. Breathe." McGee stopped her one-breath sentence, most of which Allen and Lavi didn't understand. Caf-Pow? Contest? Ducky? What?

Abby turned to face him, pointing her finger accusingly at him. "Don't be a kill-joy, Tim."

At her statement, Timcanpy flew out of Allen's sleeve. He flew towards Abby for having said his name, but stopped midflight and turned, zipping back to Allen. The golem clung to Allen's head, trying to hide himself in Allen's hair by fluttering his wings to manipulate the strands. Needless to say, his plan failed.

Abby looked at Timcanpy. "What _is_ that? It's so cool!"

Allen raised his arm, extending his index finger for Tim to crawl out onto. He hesitated before doing so. Allen lowered Timcanpy to his eye level.

"It's alright, Tim. She's nice, like Moa. You remember Moa."

Abby's eyes lit up again, and she held her hands cupped together as though she were going to take a drink from them. She brought her hands up by Allen's finger, and Timcanpy crawled into her hands.

"Your name is Tim too?" She turned to face McGee, holding Timcanpy high enough in her hands to where she could compare the two. "I don't see much of a likeness, though.

"Timcanpy's actually a golem," Lavi said, closing his visible eye and tilting his head, index finger pointed to the ceiling. It was the pose he usually took in explaining something. "Pretty smart one, too. He's come in handy more times than I can count."

The golem put on his evil grin, turning just enough for McGee to see it. McGee turned his head a little, eyes still on the golem, intimidated.

Tony laughed. "Aw, what's the matter, Probie? Scared of a little competition?" His smile dropped slightly. "Gibbs said to take a break and take these two—" he eyed Timcanpy "three . . . to get something to eat."

If Abby wasn't excited about her guests before, she was now. She threw off her white lab coat, tossing it onto the chair she had been sitting in just minutes before. They could now see that she was wearing a white dress shirt with a gray vest and black pants. The outfit looked exactly like what Allen wore when not wearing his Exorcist uniform. It seemed to be missing something, though . . .

"It looks like she raided your dresser, Allen." Lavi's words spooked Allen, as Allen had forgotten Lavi was standing there.

"Abby, what's with that outfit?" McGee asked the question, but both he and DiNozzo were staring at her outfit.

Abby spun, showing off the whole get-up. "It's my entry for the 1800's dress contest. I'm still missing a tie, though. I asked Ducky if he had some, but I'm not sure bow-ties will work. Gibbs doesn't wear ties, and I know you two lamos are entering the contest, too, so I can't ask _you_ for help."

The two special agents looked at each other.

"What you need," Allen said, for the first time since meeting these three asserting himself in the conversation. "Is not so much of a bow-tie or neck tie, but more of a ribbon tie."

Now all eyes were on him. Even Timcanpy seemed to be staring at him.

"That might work, actually." Abby seemed to be thinking rather deeply about it. "I just don't know where to find one."

"Well, listen to the short brat if you want. I've got an outfit that will put you to shame." Everyone had their jaws dropped at Tony's statement. Abby and Allen couldn't believe Tony called Allen a little brat, Lavi couldn't believe Allen wasn't flipping out, and McGee couldn't believe Tony had the nerve to challenge McGee's entry, since it was comprised mostly of items that McGee already owned.

"Well, either way," Abby started, walking towards a black coat hanging on the wall. "I have a special order from Gibbs to carry out. Let's go get you guys some food."

* * *

><p>Sorry that it's so short. I had three cases of writer's block while trying to finish this, and despite all that's been going on, publishing this chapter has been foremost on my mind. Hope you enjoyed it. Next week I should be able to write more.<p> 


	5. Lunch for Six    and Then Some

In response to a review question, I don't think there'll be any pairings, just because I want it to be really funny, and it seems that romance just complicates things ;P Not that we've ever seen THAT in literature, oh no.  
>If you like AMVs, I direct you to my YouTube page: .comuser/knightchick0883

So, here's the newest chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you can eat all that?"<p>

Lavi had recommended that Abby go somewhere cheap, since Allen and Lavi didn't have their own money. Abby figured she'd have enough money for two teens and herself, so she compromised and decided on Applebee's and told the two to order whatever they wanted. She was wondering if she would regret that decision now that she saw the redhead wasn't exaggerating about his friend's appetite.

Lavi smiled at the six plates of food. "This is nothing! You should have seen a couple days ago. Practically emptied the kitchen in one go!"

"I didn't eat _that_ much, Lavi." Allen was unrolling his silverware from the napkin.

"You don't remember? You ate enough to completely fill your bed and cover two tables in the cafeteria with dirty dishes. Not to mention the bag of food as tall as you are that you were 'snacking' on for the next while."

Allen lowered his head, turning away from Lavi in embarrassment.

"Well, eat up you two," Abby said. The idea of how much Allen ate scared her a little. She'd always heard that teenagers ate a lot, but _that_ much was just crazy! But she wanted to know more about them, so she wouldn't let that fear hinder her efforts!

A waitress walked up to their table. "Does everything taste okay?"

Abby looked at her. "Yes, thank you." The waitress smiled and walked away.

She looked at the Exorcists, and her eyes went wide. All of Allen's plates were clean! They didn't have any little scraps of food left on them, either. They were totally and completely clean.

"D-did you eat all that just now?" The Exorcists smiled at Abby's question. "How is that even _possible_?"

"It's because of my Innocence type," Allen said, setting down the napkin he'd been using to scrape crumbs off his jacket. "And it's _this_ big idiot's fault that I was so hungry."

Rather than arguing, Lavi just started eating.

"By the way, what's the year?" Allen's question seemed so honest, one would think he _didn't_ know what was going on.

"Um, it's 2011."

The teens looked at each other, each looking shocked and horrified in equal proportions. Silence fell over the table.

"So, what do you mean 'Innocence type'?" Abby looked at Allen, as he wasn't eating. "What's Innocence?"

"Innocence is the material used to make weapons to fight the Millennium Earl and his own weapons, Akuma. He aims to destroy the world using his Akuma and the Noah family is all too happy helping him do it.

"Basically, you can be two Innocence types: Parasite or Equip."

"Orf Cryftal." Lavi said.

Allen looked at his friend, apparently annoyed. "I'm trying to keep it simple here, Lavi. Just go back to stuffing your face." He looked at Abby again, smiling. "Anyway, Parasite types are born with Innocence, while Equip types are found to be compatible with Innocence later in their lives.

"Each type has pros and cons. Parasite type Innocence is easier to activate, as it dwells within the user's body; on the flip side, it drains on their life force, shortening their lifespan. And I guess Parasite types need a lot of food to keep up their energy."

Abby was shocked. This story was unbelievable! Yet . . . seemed rational at the same time. There was one phrase that kept running through her mind: "shortening their lifespan." Allen said because of his Innocence type, he was hungry all the time. And, according to his explanation, Parasite types ate a lot. The same type that has a shorter lifespan. So Allen _knew_ he would die sooner than his friend.

Abby's head lowered. "I'm sorry," she said almost in a whisper.

Allen's eyes went wide. "No, no! It's okay," he said waving his hands in front of him. "Chances are I'll die in battle _long_ before old age!"

Oh yeah, _that_ made her feel better.

Allen put his hands in his lap, also lowering his head. He must have realized he had better stop while he was behind.

The waitress brought the check, and Allen looked at Lavi, who was done eating. "You ready to go?"

"Go where? We don't even know where we are, Allen."

"On the way here we passed a shop I thought may have what Miss Abby is looking for."

Seriously? _Miss Abby?_

"What shop?"

"Olde Tyme Formal. Since we're more than a hundred years in the future, they may just have what we need." Allen smiled, and the trio got up to go rifle through the racks of history.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading the newest chapter! Sorry for the updates about as fast as molasses, but that'll change, I swear!<p>

As always, review ^_^


	6. Under Fire

Sorry about the slow update. With it being the end of the school year, I've been busy. But school's ending June 1st and I have Memorial Day off, so I should be able to put the next chapter up soon.

* * *

><p>"I believe Gibbs said a lunch break, Abby, not a vacation."<p>

DiNozzo was sitting at his desk when Abby and the Exorcists walked through the office area.

"Tony, you're just jealous that I got a lunch break and you didn't."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Ducky sent some stuff to your lab."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I don't know, he just came here and asked if you were around because he had some evidence for you to process."

"Okay, I'll go check it out."

Abby walked forward, towards the elevator that had taken Lavi and Allen to Abby's lab earlier.

"Hello, Abby." Allen and Lavi froze in their tracks at the voice that just greeted Abby. The person walked around the corner, and their fear was confirmed.

"Hey, Ziva."

A woman with dark hair walked around the corner, a woman that Allen and Lavi knew all too well. She was the one who found them at what everyone was calling the "crime scene," the one who had almost shot them.

"Ziva," Abby called her, stopped in front of the Exorcists, looking at them as though they were insects. They didn't dare breathe, let alone move. Was she going to shoot them for real this time? Her eyes looked dangerous.

"Excuse me," she told them. Had they heard her right? Just earlier today they had thought she was going to kill them and now she was saying _excuse me_?

"You're in my way. Move."

Allen and Lavi stepped aside and let her pass.

"Come on, slowpokes," Abby shouted over the desk dividers between her and the Exorcists. They jogged to her side like puppies returning to their master.

In a few minutes they were back at Abby's lab, and the group noticed a small container inside a plastic bag on the table. Abby walked over to it, lifting it to the light to examine the black dust inside. Allen and Lavi knew what it was.

"That," Lavi said, "Is the result of an Akuma attack. It's bullets contain a virus that breaks down the human body in less than a minute. Please handle that carefully.

Abby looked from Lavi to the container. "I still have to analyze it for Gibbs, though."

"Just be extra careful, Miss Abby," Allen said. "We don't want you to get in trouble with your boss, but this is a very dangerous virus."

Abby nodded before setting the container down. "I think the biohazard suits are in my office.

* * *

><p>The elevator doors opened and Ziva walked through them. She smiled at the image of those kids just a few minutes ago. They looked like she was going to shoot them.<p>

She walked through the door to Abby's lab carrying a bag with the victim's clothes and another container with the rest of the black dust.

"Abby, I brought some more evidence."

Ziva saw Allen and Lavi next to the table, and they turned to face her. They still looked marginally scared.

Abby came through her glass office door carrying one of the biohazard suits. Ziva wondered why she had it.

"Ducky didn't know what to make of this dust, so he just sent it all to you."

"Okay, Ziva, just one—"

Everyone turned to face Allen when they heard a whirring sound, as though a camera flash were charging. What she saw surprised Ziva.

Allen's left eye was black with a red target and had a black cogwheel over it.

"How many?" Lavi pulled a hammer out of its holster on his right leg.

Allen looked back and forth without moving his head. "One, but I don't know where . . ." His eyes went wide and he turned his head.

From that point, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

A strange creature resembling a dragon appeared in front of the window.

It raised its arm so the fist was pointing to Ziva.

She removed her gun from its holster and aimed it at the creature.

A whiff of smoke erupted from the creature's wrist as a large, purple, bullet-shaped object started flying towards her.

Before Ziva could shoot, something—some_one_—tackled her. Something pushed her and the person grabbing her into the wall behind them. She closed her eyes at the impact.

Ziva opened her eyes and saw Allen roll off of her. He got on his knees, but didn't try to get on his feet. Ziva stood and walked over to him.

As she got closer to Allen, she saw him, head down, holding his left hand over his right arm. Timcanpy was flying over his right shoulder. She went to his right side, wanting to get a better look at the wound.

The wound looked pretty bad. Had he taken that oversized bullet for her? Ziva reached out to touch his arm.

"Don't touch me," he said, his voice weak. He raised his head. "You'll be infected." Ziva gasped at what she saw next.

He was turning black. It wasn't just fading to black, either, but black stars were appearing on his skin. He seemed to be getting weaker, as well.

"Allen? What's going on?" Looking at Abby's face, one would wonder how she could keep her voice calm . . . ish.

"The Akuma virus . . . every bullet is loaded with it." Allen put his left hand to his heart, and the black began to disappear. His natural color seemed to force the virus to the star on Allen's forehead, which was glowing red.

With the visible traces of the virus erased, Allen stood. He still had the wound on his arm, though.

Now they were even more confused. What just happened? He turned to face them.

"Another part of being a Parasite type; I'm immune to the virus."

Abby seemed satisfied, but Ziva was still completely lost.

"Lavi, we should—" Allen said as the white coat he'd been wearing when Ziva first found the teens appeared, and his hand turned into the claw form.

In all the confusion, Ziva hadn't noticed that the redhead—what was his name, Lavi?—and the weird creature had disappeared. Apparently, neither did Allen.

"Stay here." Allen ran through the huge hole in the wall—something else she hadn't noticed—towards crashing and shooting sounds, Timcanpy flying next to him.

He expected them to stay here in the lab while they were off fighting some monster that just tried to kill Ziva and almost killed Allen? Ziva could handle herself!

She and Abby looked at each other and ran to the elevator.

* * *

><p>"Feeling better?"<p>

Allen nodded at his friend as he joined in the battle.

It was the same Level 2 they'd seen earlier that day. Its shape reminded Allen of the Akuma who kidnapped Mei Ling in China, before they set sail for Edo.

"We can't let him get away again."

"Agreed." Lavi raised his hammer into the air. "Level Two, release!"

* * *

><p>The NCIS team stood back from the battle, watching it in amazement. Abby and Ziva had explained the explosion everyone upstairs had heard, and Gibbs, Tony, McGee, and Ducky followed them outside. They had all grabbed their pistols with the thought that a gun would do some good.<p>

Upon getting to a point where they could get a clear shot, the team saw that they were wrong. The sight was amazing, with Lavi swinging his oversized hammer and Allen swiping at the creature with his claw.

Not knowing what to do, they just watched. There had to be _something_ they could do, but what? According to Allen and Lavi, this thing wasn't even from their _time_. At every hit the creature landed, someone winced. They did this for a living?

Allen grabbed his wrist, and the team widened their eyes as Allen transformed the claw on his hand into a large sword, and the coat over his shoulders lengthened.

And they'd thought a costume contest would be the highlight for today.

* * *

><p>The Akuma swiped at Allen, and he activated the Crown Clown shield to protect him from the hit. The swipe still landed, and sent Allen flying and crashing into a tree, knocking the wind out of him. Timcanpy circled above Allen's head, seemingly encouraging him to get up.<p>

He didn't get it. Granted, he was probably still out of it from recent events, but still. Crown Clown held up against the Level 4, so why not a Level 2? Was it because they were in a different time? If that was so, then why did the Akuma seem to have all its powers?

Allen had another idea. Allen was exhausted, and since Crown Clown was a physical part of him, it must be tired as well. Lavi's hammer, on the other hand, had just been rebuilt. Maybe . . .

"Lavi!" Allen stood up, leaning heavily on the tree for support. "Use a fire staff."**a**

"What's that?" Allen turned his head to find Lavi. He saw his friend standing several yards away.

"I said," Allen said louder than before. "Use a fire staff!"

"But—"

"What's the alternative, Lavi? I'm exhausted, so my Innocence is, too. Just hitting it's not helping! What've we got to lose?"

"Alright then." He held the handle vertical, so the hammer end was straight up in the air. "Level Two, release!" A ring of symbols surrounded the hammer. Lavi swung the hammer, driving it through one of the symbols and holding the now red-glowing hammer above his head. "Consuming fire staff!"

Lavi brought the hammer down, hitting the ground just short of the Akuma and the red symbol now covered the ground around them. A red dragon-shaped figure emerged from the seal, shooting into the air and twisting. It swallowed the Akuma, even as it tried to fly away. After a few seconds trapped in the fire staff, it exploded.

The staff disappeared and Allen and Lavi deactivated their Innocence, collapsing to the ground after doing so.

It was finally over.

* * *

><p><strong>a.<strong> I decided to go with the English dub version on this one, because I wasn't sure what the direct translation for "hiban" was.

So, this one's actually been ready to go for a while, but I was planning on posting it with the next one, all as one chapter. But I figured it was all a little much to put in a single chapter. I started it right after I updated this last, but hit some writer's block. I'm over it now, though. Obviously ^_^

If you're reading "Should I Die Before I Wake," my other fanfiction at the moment, I want to finish this one before updating it. Two reasons for that: 1. I started "Blast From the Past" first, I'll finish it first. 2. Writer's Block :p

Oh, on a random note, I ordered my cosplay finally! Yippee! :D

You know the drill. Review, check out my other sites, check out my other fanfiction(s)


	7. From Bad to Worse

Hey, everybody! Sorry for the long wait! I really wanted to update this sometime in May, but school got in the way :P But hey, this is a longish chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"What do you think that was?"<p>

"How am I supposed to know?"

"You're the movie shine."

"It's called movie buff, Ziva. And that has nothing to do with this."

"Shut up! He's waking up."

Allen opened his eyes to see the people who had been whispering—Ziva and Tony—looking down at him. . . . So he was lying down . . . but where was he?

Allen sat up, and Tony put a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa. Don't sit up too fast. It may sound cliché, but you were just in the battle of the century, and need to recover."

Allen put his hand to his head, and hit Timcanpy, who was clinging to Allen's hair. "Sorry, Tim." The golem pointed his wings straight up, as if stretching after a nap. "Where am I?"

A man stood up from a desk in the corner of the room Allen was in. He was short, had gray hair, and was wearing a bow-tie. Allen hadn't seen one of _those_ in a while.

"The morgue," he said as he started walking towards Allen. "It seemed a better than finding a place on the floor upstairs. At least here we have beds of sorts."

Allen looked down at what he was lying on. It was silver, like the table in Abby's lab. There was also a black blanket thrown over Allen. And a black . . . frilly . . . pillow under where his head was.

He looked back to the man with the bow-tie.

He smiled. "You can thank Abigail for those. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Dr. Mallard, but most know me as Ducky."

Allen smiled. "Allen."

"I am well aware of who you are, Mr. Walker. You and your friend put on quite the show earlier. And I believe Jethro has said you are free to go."

Allen looked around the room. "Where _is_ Lavi?"

"Waiting for you to wake up, Lazybones."

Allen turned his head to see Lavi standing in the doorway. Lavi walked up to the table, walking around Ziva and Ducky to stand on the other side of Tony. Allen smiled at his conscious effort to avoid Ziva.

"Ya feeling better?" Allen nodded at Lavi's question. "Ready to go?"

"What do you mean, 'ready to go'?" The Exorcists looked at Ziva, surprised by her talking to them . . . nicely.

"We need to get home," Lavi said in his all's-well-in-the-world tone of voice.

Allen enjoyed it here, but Lavi was right. They had to get home. They were already in _enough_ trouble. Besides that, as Exorcists they couldn't get attached to places they went, even if it was intended for a vacation.

Ziva, Tony, and Ducky nodded, as though they understood why Allen and Lavi had to leave.

"How are you getting back," Tony asked.

"Where you first met us," Allen said. "There's a gate there that will send us back."

Tony nodded once. "Sure you don't want to stay longer, just to be safe?" It sounded more like a strong suggestion than a simple question.

Lavi shook his head. "We've probably been here too long as it is."

"Alright, then." Tony's voice was quiet.

Allen and Lavi walked towards the door to the morgue, followed by Ducky and the agents.

* * *

><p>"You're sure you have to leave?" The Exorcists nodded at Abby's question.<p>

There was a breeze at what Gibbs had called the crime scene earlier. Allen and Lavi had said their good-byes to Ziva, Ducky, McGee, and Tony at the office. A fast, quiet car ride later, they were saying bye to Gibbs and Abby as well.

The group walked to the spot where Allen and Lavi had landed in their pursuit of the Akuma. There was an awkward silence, as no one knew how to say good-bye. Granted, they'd only known each other for a day—less than that, actually—but the Exorcists had grown fond of Abby, and vice versa.

Abby sniffed, causing them to look at her. Before he could react, Abby hugged Allen tightly. He looked wide-eyed between Gibbs and Lavi, each smiling at Allen's dismayed look.

"I know you have a home to return to," Abby said, voice sounding choked. "And that you have important work, but promise me something . . .

"Promise me that . . . you'll live your lives to the fullest."

Allen nodded. "Okay," he said almost in a whisper. Abby squeezed him harder, to where he could hardly breathe. When she released him, she wiped her eyes. Was she . . . crying?

She turned and hugged Lavi just as hard, and when he tried to say something all that same out was an unintelligible squeak. She let go of him, and he made a dramatic sigh as he took a huge breath.

When his breathing was back to normal, Lavi turned to Gibbs. "So, do you believe us _now_?"

Gibbs tilted his head slightly, a smile barely noticeable accompanying the head-tilt. "Did I ever say that I didn't?"

Allen and Lavi stared at him in confusion. Earlier today, hadn't he said that he didn't believe them? . . . No, that's right. He said "Did I say I believed you."

_How deep _is_ this guy?_ They both thought.

Turning away from Gibbs and Abby, the Exorcists looked up at the Ark. It was angled in a position where if they tried to just extend the hammer, the handle wouldn't have a good landing spot for them to get off.

"How do you wanna do this, Allen?"

"Maybe I could use Clown Belt to get up there then you extend your hammer? I can grab hold of it and pull you inside."

"Worth a try."

Allen activated his Innocence, then extended his arm towards the entrance to the Ark. "Clown Belt," he said, commanding his Innocence. The belt flowed from his coat, wrapping around his arm before shooting off in the direction of the Ark. It went through the doorway, wrapping around something and pulling tight, as though to signal Allen that he could then ascend to the doorway. He leapt toward the doorway.

* * *

><p>Abby watched as Allen was pulled toward the white doorway. It was sad that they had to leave so soon. She would have liked to get to know them better, even if she already considered them friends.<p>

Allen was just about to go through the door when he gasped.

"Found you!" The voice was low-pitched. A purple string appeared from the doorway, wrapping around Allen's waist.

He reacted quickly, transforming his hand into a claw and slashing at the string. It broke, and he retracted the white rope-thing that had come from his coat. What did he call it, Clown Belt? He fell, his landing surprisingly graceful.

The Akuma floated to the ground, stopping to hover just before its feet touched the dirt. "I didn't realize when the Lord Millennium ordered me to find you I would have to leave our own time."

Lavi pulled out his hammer. "Fire—"

The Akuma made the motion of snapping a whip, and the end wrapped around his wrists. A bright purple light flew down the string, causing Lavi to yell in pain and drop his hammer. Once it hit the ground, the glow disappeared and the string was pulled away from his hands.

Lavi dropped to his knees, staring at his hands. "They won't—I can't—they can't move!" The look in his eyes went from confusion to realization, now to fear. He raised his head, eye wide, as he yelled to Allen, seemingly at the top of his lungs. "Allen! Don't let the strings get near you! They'll paralyze you!"

Allen nodded. The Akuma swung his arm, and a string flew towards Allen. The mask on the front of his jacket came over his face, and the jacket stretched out to resemble a cloak, and covered Allen's body. The strings bounced off of it like a bouncy ball off a building.

The Akuma tried this several more times, each time aiming for a different spot, but each attempt was unsuccessful.

It smiled, as though it knew what it needed to do to win. It activated another string so it had one in each hand, but stopped attacking. It simply stood there, as though waiting for something . . .

The cloak protecting Allen moved to behind him, revealing his right hand holding his left wrist, and his left arm turned into a sword, as it had done in his battle earlier. He ran towards the Akuma, raising his sword above his head as he did so.

The Akuma's smile widened as Allen drew near, and Abby's eyes went wide.

"Allen! Stop!" But he was already moving too fast to be able to stop in time.

The Akuma tried to hit Allen with the string in its right hand, but Allen sidestepped to his right, so he was right in front of the Akuma's other hand. The Akuma made the other string head straight towards Allen's face. He tried to skid to a halt, but, unable to do so, fell on his back, his momentum still carrying him towards his enemy. He rolled out from under the string, keeping his chin tucked in.

He raised his head to look at the Akuma. _This_ was what it was waiting for: Allen to be in a position where he wouldn't be able to react fast enough. It snapped the string, as it had done to Lavi, but the string fell short of Allen's face. The light travelled down again, and Allen yelped as he fell back on his elbow, rubbing his eyes.

He tried to put the end of his sword against his shoulder to transform it back into a hand, but couldn't seem to find where his shoulder was in relation to the sword. Couldn't he—

He couldn't see!

Abby looked desperately to Lavi. "Lavi, you have to do something! Help him!" She didn't mean to be pushy, but she couldn't do anything to help if she wanted to.

"I still can't move my hands! I can barely move my arms!"

A green glow made Abby look Allen's way again. He was able to transform his sword.

The Akuma flew over to him, shortening the two strings to where they barely dangled under its hands. Allen must've heard it coming, as he furiously started swinging his clawed hand around. The Akuma grabbed it, slamming it down on the ground, as the string attached to its other hand wrapped around Allen's neck.

Allen grabbed the string with his right hand and pulled, trying to pull it off.

The Akuma tilted its head slightly as something though something were hitting it, but the impact wasn't enough to do damage. Abby looked at Gibbs, who had his weapon drawn. It completely ignored the bullets, its focus on Allen.

"Your Innocence is in your body," the Akuma said in a malicious tone. "If you can't move your body, you can't activate your Innocence."

The string lit up, and Abby cringed at the scream that Allen let out before his hand fell to his side and he stopped moving completely. Her eyes went wide.

"Allen! No!" She tried to run to him, not thinking about her actions.

Lavi raised his arm slightly, from the way it was shaking, as far as he _could_. "Wait."

"But Lavi—"

"If Allen and I couldn't do anything, what makes you think you could?"

Abby looked back at the Akuma, who was throwing Allen over its shoulder. There had to be _something_ she could do!

Gibbs fired several more shots at the Akuma, all hitting it either in the head or torso, but it wasn't hurt at all. It turned toward the white doorway, but before proceeding turned its head to face Abby and the guys.

"Were it not for the Lord Millennium's orders, I would have great joy in killing each and every one of you. Including _this_ useless traitor." With that, it flew into the Ark.

Abby ran forwards, this time with no one to stop her.

"Wait, Abby!"

She turned to face Lavi as she skidded to a halt. "We have to go help him!"

"We will, Abs, but—" There was a rustling sound behind Gibbs as he stopped mid-sentence, an annoyed look coming across his face. "I already know the answer to this question, but who's _bright_ idea was it to follow us out here?"

Ziva, Tony, and McGee emerged from the bushes as Gibbs turned. The trio stopped, and when Gibbs was completely facing them Ziva and McGee pointed to Tony.

Tony didn't try to act innocent. "They wanted to see, too."

"Well, since you're here now—"

"We're going with you," Ziva said in her "you can't tell us no" voice.

McGee picked up Lavi's hammer as Tony and Ziva helped him stand up, and the group ran towards the Ark entrance.

* * *

><p>Sorry if the fight scene's not all that great. I'm not used to writing fight scenes XD<p>

So yesterday when I heard there wouldn't be a new chapter of D. Gray-Man this month I kinda went into the Tamaki emo corner for some time. But this morning I decided that I wanted to read Zone because I'd heard about it and Googled it some, but couldn't find it. After an HOUR I finally found it, and must say that I thought it was pretty good. Then again I've been told that I'm not critical enough when it comes to other peoples' works. I'm overly critical of my own stuff XD

If you are like me and wanna read it, you can go to my YouTube channel (link on my profile) and it's near the top in my favorites

So, yeah, now that school's out for the summer I can write more. b^_^d And I ask, if you have time, that you check into my other fanfic so far, Should I Die Before I Wake. There's nothing really bad in it, it's only rated M because the first chapter is a birth scene, and I wasn't sure if that qualifies for mature content or not . . .

As always, review! :D


	8. Getting Help

Hey! Sorry for the wait. I got . . . erm . . . distracted . . . And I had writers block.

So, anywho, enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

><p>"Hey guys, guess what. I'm starting to get feeling back in my hand."<p>

Everyone glared at Lavi as they tried to catch their breath.

Things would have gone a lot smoother if Lavi had been able to get everyone on the hammer-end, extend the handle, and use the hammer basically as an elevator, as he said. But, as soon as he got their hopes up that this would be easy, he realized that he would need to grasp the handle, something he couldn't do if he couldn't feel his hands.

Since he could command it by his voice, though, Lavi extended the handle to where it went inside the Ark doorway, so everyone else could climb it and he would ride up with one person at the end.

Gibbs had gone first, followed by Tony, McGee, then Ziva, all of which slipped at one point. Tony almost fell off completely, and would have, if Gibbs hadn't been there to grab him. Abby rode up with Lavi.

Everyone stood, Tony's knees still shaking slightly from his almost-catastrophe.

"So what now?" Abby asked the question that was on everyone's mind. They were all looking at Lavi, but now out of curiosity as opposed to annoyance.

"I may be getting feeling back," Lavi said, looking down at his hands. "But I don't know when—or even _if_—they'll be up to par if we go after that Akuma. And we have to get Allen back, and _soon_."

"So basically, we're corked?" Ziva asked, stepping forward. Lavi tilted his head in confusion.

"She means screwed," Tony said, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

"No," Lavi said, replying to Ziva's question. "There are people at the Black Order who can help. But we have to hurry."

"How do we _get_ to this Black Order?" Ziva stepped forward as she spoke.

"It's right around the corner, actually." Lavi turned to face the direction he and Allen had come from when they first got into the Ark. He jogged a few steps before realizing he heard no one behind him, and turned to see that they were staring at him in disbelief.

DiNozzo was closest to Lavi, blocking the way for the rest of the team. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Tony, come on! Let us through," Abby said, trying to get by him. "He helped us earlier, remember?"

"If there's anything being a cop and working at NCIS has taught me, it's to not be too trusting."

"Look," Lavi said, stepping toward Tony, his tone not as pleasant as it had been a minute before. "This is a _fine_ time to tell me you don't trust me. Believe me, I _live_ the phrase 'keep your friends close and enemies closer.' But my friend is in danger, and my focus is on getting him back.

"If you're scared, just say so and I can boot your ass out that door and you can go back to being an NCIS agent in you own time. But right now I need help, not distrust." Lavi closed his eye as he sighed. Okay, he didn't mean to get _that_ mad, but this guy started questioning him at the worst possible moment.

He opened his eye again to see Tony staring at him, surprised. Like he was surprised a kid half his age would snap at him. Lavi turned again, walking toward the entrance with the "HQ" sign above it. As he walked he heard a slapping sound and a subsequent surprised gasp.

_Hang on, Allen_, Lavi thought as he stopped by the entrance to HQ and waited for everyone else. _I'll get some help, then we're coming to find you._

* * *

><p>Allen was starting to get feeling back in his eyes. He still couldn't see anything but that bright purple light, but he could blink now. Not that it did any good.<p>

He could still feel his head, since it was above where the Akuma had numbed his neck. He could hear each footstep the it took, and could feel his head hurting, but that was about it.

As the Akuma had said, the Innocence was within his body, not just his arm. And he could feel that the fragments in his brain, like him, were anxious to get moving again.

Come on! He hated feeling so useless. He couldn't move, couldn't see, breathing hurt. Why was he breathing, anyways? Wasn't that part of his body paralyzed? It hurt to think. Must've been from the light that he couldn't stop seeing. Or was it from being carried this way? Too much to think about.

With any luck, Lavi would be able to get help soon. Until he got out of this, Allen wouldn't stop trying to figure a way out.

* * *

><p>"Coast's clear," Lavi said as he pulled his head out of the white entrance. "But be very quiet. And follow me."<p>

He gently stepped through the doorway. Abby was first to follow, she looked at everyone else, smiling that Tony was at the end of their single-file line.

Abby couldn't believe what she saw when she walked through the doorway. She honestly didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't _this_.

The décor was dark, mostly black. There was debris on the floor, and a knocked over "Welcome Home" banner in front of the staircase they were on.

They took the staircase very slowly, careful not to make the slightest noise. Abby knew the reason they were sneaking around even without Lavi saying it: they were from a different time, different place, and they didn't belong here. Abby had no idea what would happen if they _did_ get caught, but she didn't think it would be good.

Abby sighed in relief when DiNozzo made it to the bottom of the staircase and they were still in the clear. Lavi led them around a corner, and they all, including Lavi, sighed heavily. They made it inside. The NCIS team broke formation, so to speak, and formed a circle of sorts around Lavi, waiting to hear what to do next.

Lavi sighed again. "I need to find Lenalee . . . She's been inside the Ark and helped Allen defeat a Level 4, so she's our best bet."

"Where can we find her?"

"Probably either in Komui's office or her room . . ."

"Lavi?"

His eye went wide as a girl's voice said his name. The team quickly reformed the line behind Lavi on the opposite from where the voice was coming from, as if she would see Lavi and not the group of people standing around him.

"Ah, L-Lenalee!"

Abby poked her head out just enough to see who Lavi was talking to. The girl had dark green hair and purple eyes, and was wearing a long-sleeve black jacket—similar to Lavi and Allen's'—as well as a red skirt, white socks that went up to her mid-thigh, and red shoes and anklets.

"Who is that you're hiding?"

"Did you find him, Lenalee?" Another voice, this time male, came from the corner next to where Lenalee was standing. The man who emerged also had dark hair and glasses, and was wearing a white beret, white jacket with a black cross-symbol on the shoulder, and white clothes underneath. "You know we've been trying to find you all day? Where've you been?"

The man leaned forward slightly, adjusting his glasses as he walked closer to Lavi, followed by Lenalee. "Who are _these_ people?"

"I'll explain later, Komui. But right now we have to find Allen!"

"I thought he was with you," Lenalee said, coming to . . . Komui's? . . .side.

"He was. But an Akuma nabbed him and they're in the Ark. I would have gone after him myself, but the Akuma paralyzed my hands, so I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"What kind is it?"

"Level 3."

"Why couldn't Allen destroy it?"

"Because it blinded him then paralyzed his whole body." Lavi looked down at his hands which were twitching now, and moved the fingers slightly. "If I'm just now able to move my hands again, then Allen may be getting vision back." He looked at Komui again. "We have to hurry, though. I don't know how far the doorway the Akuma is taking him to is."

"Do you think we need to get Kanda?"

Lavi sighed. "We need time! But we also need all the help we can get. If Yu's close, let's find him. Otherwise—"

"What was that, Stupid Rabbit?" Before Abby could turn to see who was yelling, a man with dark blue hair appeared behind Lavi, holding a sword to his neck.

"Yu!"

"Don't call me that! Unless you _want_ to lose your head!"

"Allen's in trouble! We need to find him!" Lavi seemed to completely ignore the man's rage.

"Che." The man lowered his sword to his side. "What makes you think I give a damn about that stupid moyashi?"

"Please, Kanda?" He looked at Lenalee and her pleading voice and face, and Abby could swear she saw his murderous gaze soften to annoyance. He put the sword in its sheath on his belt.

"Fine," he muttered, almost under his breath. He started walking back towards the Ark. He stopped after a few steps when no one followed. "Coming?" He still sounded annoyed.

Lavi, Komui, and Lenalee smiled, while the NCIS team didn't know what to do. They followed Lavi and Kanda to the Ark.

Once everyone was inside, Lavi turned to face the whole group.

"I don't know which way they went, so we're gonna have to split up." He looked back and forth over the group. "Why don't we have . . . Abby, Ziva, and myself go with Lenalee, and Komui, Gibbs, McGee and DiNozzo will go with Kanda.

"Che, why do I get stuck with the Sister Complex?" Kanda closed his eyes as he spoke.

"That's not nice, Kanda," Komui said with a pouty face.

"And I think it's best to not separate Ziva from her translator," McGee said, and Abby couldn't help but smile.

"Hhmm . . . good point." Lavi looked over the crowd again. "Okay. Ziva, DiNozzo, Abby, and Komui go with Lenalee. Gibbs, McGee, and I will go with Y—Kanda."

The groups now decided, they went to look for Allen.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the short chapter. Like I said, I had writer's block, and still kinda do for the next chapter . . .<p>

So, yeah! As always, reviews are much appreciated!


	9. Hide and Seek

Hey! I'm alive!

Sorry about the long wait.

I had writer's block and lack of motivation for a while. But the other night I was bored and got 1500 words down :D

So, here ya go! ^_^

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><p>Allen blinked several times, glad that he was finally getting his vision back, even if it was all black and white. His arms were tingling now, but he couldn't move. Not that he <em>would<em>, even if he had the ability to. He needed to wait until the right moment, so it wouldn't paralyze him again. Only this time it might just kill him.

Why wasn't he able to fight off this Level 3? Or the Level 2, for that matter? He took down that Level 4. Granted, he only managed to kill it with Lenalee's help, and it damn near killed him more than once, but he still won that fight when he couldn't kill the two Akuma **(a) **he faced off in the "future".

Was it like before, when he and his friends were setting sail for Edo, and his arm was literally flaking? But that didn't make sense—that was when his Innocence was unstable . . .

Was it because Innocence and Akuma didn't exist in the future? But then why was Lavi able to use a fire seal? And why did the Akuma still have their abilities?

Color slowly returned, and Allen looked at his arm as he felt the Innocence within it get excited. It felt this way every time he activated it.

_Not now_, he willed his Innocence to wait. _Just wait a little longer. Please._

* * *

><p>Timcanpy flew above Lavi's head, obviously dismayed at being parted from Allen again. It probably reminded him of the night Tyki tried to kill Allen and he told Tim to leave him.<p>

"Don't worry, Tim. We'll find Allen."

"Can that thing think?" Lavi looked over to see McGee pointing to Tim.

Lavi nodded. "He can do more than think. Tim has a communication device, recording device, and can even find the person who created him."

McGee nodded. "Can we use him to find Allen, then?"

Lavi shook his head. "Allen didn't create Timcanpy, his master did. And we could ideally send Tim out to find him, but—"

"It'd give away the fact that we're here," Gibbs interrupted, but was spot on.

Kanda remained silent as the group made its way through the Ark. Lavi smiled. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Kanda was genuinely worried about Allen. But if he asked about it then he knew Kanda would only say that he didn't care what happened to that damn moyashi but he would have to deal with it if Allen never came back.

_It could be a lot worse, though_, Lavi thought. _Okay, maybe not _a lot_ but we do have one advantage. Allen's Innocence was active when he was paralyzed. Since he was unable to move, it's still activated. That'll save all of us some trouble. If we can find that Akuma in time, all he'll need to do is start fighting, rather than have to waste time activating. Only problem is finding that Akuma._

He looked at Timcanpy, hoping that they would find Allen in time.

* * *

><p>Abby looked around at everyone in the group as they walked through the streets. She kept thinking about how when that thing—what did Lavi call it?—took Allen and even when Gibbs shot it in the head it didn't affect the thing at all. What could she do if Gibbs couldn't hurt it?<p>

She felt useless, and it wasn't a good feeling.

"So, what happens if we find him," she asked, looking back and forth between Komui and Lenalee.

"It really depends on when we get there," Lenalee said. She turned her head to face Abby. "But if I get the chance, that Akuma's going down."

Abby tilted her head in curiosity. "How? Bullets didn't do anything to hurt it."

She smiled. "Allen and Lavi aren't the only ones who possess Innocence. I may not look it but with my Dark Boots I can pack quite a punch—or kick, rather."

Abby looked at her legs. Granted, the white socks, red anklets, and red shoes were cute, but weren't boots. _Abby_ wore boots. "Dark Boots?"

"They're deactivated right now. Just like how when he's not using it, Lavi's hammer is small enough to fit in a holster."

"So, is there any easier way of searching," Ziva asked as she walked alongside Abby.

"There is," Komui said in a non-enthusiastic tone. "But in this case 'safer' is better than 'easier'. Ideally we could contact him via his communication device, or send Timcanpy to find him. But both options are bad if Allen is unable to react. The Akuma would know we're onto it, and would either take off or just kill him on the spot."

Ziva nodded in silence.

"Do we know where it's headed?" Abby was still looking at Komui.

"No clue. We don't even know if it's still in the streets. But we have to do what we can. It's quicker searching the streets than going room to room."

"So basically, we're in the dark."

"Not 'basically,' we _are_ in the dark. Luck will have a big part in finding him."

"We have to have faith in him, brother," Lenalee said, not turning her head to speak. Even from the back she looked determined. "Allen won't let himself be taken to the Earl."

"Of course, Lenalee. I'm just saying that right now the Akuma has the upper hand."

"Not for long."

The group continued in silence, looking up and down every street they crossed. No matter how far they walked, they weren't finding him. It was frustrating!

"Abby," Ziva said, making Abby's heart skip a beat. She looked at Ziva, who motioned to Abby's pocket. She looked down and saw a pair of ear-buds and more than half of her iPod sticking out.**b**

"Oh, thanks," she said, pushing it back into her pocket.

"What's that," Komui asked with a curious expression. _That's right_, Abby thought. _These people are from more than 100 years ago. They have records. They haven't seen a music-playing device any smaller than a TV._

"Um," she said, smiling. "I'll explain later."

They continued walking.

* * *

><p>Lavi looked at his hands, moving the fingers. He couldn't move them fast, but he would at least be able to grip his hammer.<p>

He wondered if Allen could move again. Granted, he'd been hit after Lavi, so one would guess he could feel everything tingling. But he had Innocence.

Innocence was a tricky substance. It almost seemed intelligent, the way it crystallized to protect Lenalee, or how it followed Allen as a cloud of mist to the Asia Branch. Or even the way it caused mysterious phenomena to be noticed and picked up by the Order.

So, taking in the consideration that the Innocence was aware of its surroundings, it may be working to get Allen moving sooner.

Timcanpy shot up into the air, acting as if he heard something, although Lavi didn't know what. The golem turned slowly, then his tail straightened when he was facing a direction forward and to the left relative to where the group was. He flew down as quickly as he had ascended, opened his mouth, which revealed his evilly-sharp teeth, grabbed onto Lavi's scarf, and pulled him forward at a fairly fast clip.

Having no choice but to follow, Lavi tried to run as quietly as possible, which was difficult with a worked-up golem pulling him.

"Did you find him, Tim?" The golem didn't respond to Lavi's question, but the fact that he was so determined to lead them in this particular direction was answer enough.

* * *

><p>Allen clenched his right hand into a fist. It was somewhat slow, but at least it was moving. He would have tried it with his left hand, but the claws were long enough that if they twitched too much they would tap the Akuma, and it would know he was moving.<p>

He had seen Timcanpy. And it looked like Tim had seen him, as well. Allen only hoped that whoever was with Tim—probably Lavi and Lenalee, at least—were cautious on their approach. Allen was trying to wait until the last possible second to attack, just so he would have enough strength.

At least they were looking for him, though, not that he didn't think they would. He trusted his friends with his life. It was just nice knowing that they were coming to get him.

His stomach growled, and Allen winced. He needed to get back to the Order. _Soon._

* * *

><p>Abby looked up and down every street they came across two or three times in each direction. She was terrified that they wouldn't be able to find Allen. It had already been twenty minutes, give or take since they started looking for him. And that was after they spent several minutes in that Black Order place.<p>

Lenalee stopped, putting her hand up as she did so, and everyone froze. Then they heard it.

There were footsteps. The pattern was consistent, steady, and slow, so Abby knew it was one entity, rather than a group. And the sound it made with each step sounded metallic.

_We found him!_ Abby smiled slightly as Lenalee started moving again, this time faster, but retained the silence she'd had before they stopped. The group followed, having some difficulty keeping the quicker pace _and_ being silent. Abby looked over as the footsteps got closer, and her heart jumped when she saw the Akuma carrying Allen.

She looked back to Lenalee, wondering how far ahead of the Akuma they were going to get before stopping. After two streets, she finally ran around the corner into an alleyway. The group followed, and once around the corner they all leaned against the side of the building facing the way the Akuma was headed, and Tony and Komui started panting. Abby didn't know whether or not Komui had an excuse, but DiNozzo didn't. He practically ran for a living!

Abby registered movement, and turned her head from the guys to look across the street and see Lavi, Gibbs, McGee, and . . . what was his name? . . . Kanda appear from behind the building. Timcanpy was flying above Lavi's head.

Both parties remained perfectly silent as they listened to the Akuma's steps drawing nearer and nearer. Abby's heart started beating faster as she tried to think of what she should do when time finally came for them to fight. She didn't have the ability to fight this thing, none of the NCIS team did. She figured if possible, they could try to help Allen, but it would be tricky. But she didn't feel right following them out here and running away when the fight started.

Chills went up her back as the Akuma walked past them. If its stride was any indication, it didn't care if anyone was following it.

Her eyes went wide when she saw Allen's face. At first it seemed bored, simply staring at the ground as the Akuma carried him. As he saw his friends and the team, he looked up at them, not moving his body, with a surprised expression.

Abby inhaled, taking a small step forward as she did. As her foot landed, something noisily clattered to the ground next to her.

Her eyes went wide, and she gasped, throwing her hand over her mouth. Not that it would do any good. Whatever had hit the ground couldn't have gone unnoticed. She looked down, seeing the iPod lying on the ground. Abby looked up again, seeing everyone, including the Akuma, looking right at her.

"Activate!"

Before Abby could look at Lenalee, the source of the shout, something grabbed her and lifted her into the air. It all seemed like a blur. One second she was on the ground, the next she was in the air with a sudden headache.

She looked at the person who grabbed her. _Lenalee?_ Abby then looked down, remembering her mentioning Dark Boots, and was shocked at what she saw. In place of the long white socks and red shoes and anklets was a pair of blood-red, almost armor-like high-heeled boots with butterfly-like wings on the ankle portion. Now _those_ were boots.

* * *

><p><em>No better time than the present<em>, Allen thought as he looked for a place where he could use Clown Belt to get away from the Akuma, rather than trust his legs, which would be shaky, at best. He saw a window with an outcrop accompanied by metal bars. Deciding that beggars can't be choosers, he extended his right arm, pointing it to the window. He didn't think it would go as fast as usual, but he was okay just so long as it got him away before the Akuma could turn around.

Quite the opposite happened. It almost went _too_ fast. It was like a spring that was compressed, with all that energy just waiting to be released. Crown Belt wrapped around the bars and Allen was pulled away from the Akuma, letting out a surprised yelp as he was yanked. It did the trick, though. Allen all but face-planted, hitting the ground stunned, slightly sore from going from a stationary position to flying and hitting the ground, but he did so without the Akuma having a chance to attack him.

He tried to stand, but his legs were wobbly and very dependent on the wall to keep him up. At least he was out of the way, so everyone else could attack.

Poor Abby. She looked scared to death when that thing fell to the ground in front of her, drawing everyone's attention. At least Lenalee was able to get her to safety.

Allen looked at the Akuma as Lavi and Kanda rushed toward it, starting the battle.

* * *

><p>"You should go back to the HQ gate."<p>

"No."

Lenalee turned to look at Abby. She understood that she would be of no use in the battle, but she couldn't run away while everyone was fighting.

"I understand your determination, but we'll all be okay. This isn't the hardest thing we've gone up against."

"I know, but still! At least let me hide somewhere until it's over. I just can't run away while you're all in danger."

Lenalee sighed. "Okay, but—" She was interrupted by an explosion. They looked towards where it came from, and saw a blue light disappearing. They started running towards it.

* * *

><p>Lavi put his hammer back in its holster as Allen deactivated Crown Clown.<p>

"Thanks, Yu!" Lavi was smiling, as usual, as he taunted Kanda.

"Because I just killed an Akuma, I will let you live," Kanda replied, eyes closed as he re-sheathed Mugen. He opened his eye as he looked at Lavi, showing the murderous rage that was more than evident in his voice. "But don't let me hear you use my first name ever again."

Lenalee and Abby ran out from behind a nearby building.

"Is everyone alright," Lenalee asked, coming to a halt.

Lavi and Allen smiled. "All good," Lavi said, and Allen nodded.

Abby walked to where she had been standing earlier and picked up the silver thing that had fallen on the ground.

"We should probably head back," Lenalee said as she walked over to join the other Exorcists.

Kanda walked away from the group.

"Where are you going, Kanda," Allen asked.

Kanda stopped, only partially turning his head. "Where do you think? I'm going back to headquarters."

"HQ is _this _way," Allen said, pointing in the opposite direction.

The two were left staring at each other for several seconds, Lenalee and Lavi looking back and forth between them.

"You mean, we're . . ." the three male Exorcists said then gulped. "LOST?"

* * *

><p><strong>a.<strong> Technically, "akumas" is the plural for akuma, but I just don't like that word, so just said that "akuma" is singular as well as plural.

**b.** Sorry if this seems, random, like "where did that iPod come from?" but, personally, I go everywhere with my iPod ^_^ And it makes sense later

So, I hope that was worth waiting for. I was gonna upload it a few days ago, but decided not to have a big cliffhanger, just in case I don't update for a while.

I kinda feel like I've been slacking off on FanFiction . . . but that time I didn't spend on my story I spent updating DA and YT. Got tons 'a cosplay pics ^_^

So, by now you know the drill, but I'll tell ya anyway. Read, review, share your thoughts, all that fun stuff ^_^


	10. Great Juuuust Great

Sorry I haven't updated in almost two months! X( I'll be honest, I got distracted and . . . yeah. Started doing more artwork and stuff . . . Then I got into the Mass Effect franchise . . .

Actually, one day a week or so ago I was listening to the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack, and then I randomly grabbed my computer and picked up where I left off. Got 400 words done that time ^_^

So here ya go ^_^ Hope it was worth waiting 2 months for . . .

* * *

><p>"We should have known better than to follow you, Allen. You are a master at getting lost."<p>

The group had split up to try and find their way back to HQ. Lavi, McGee, and Allen went one way, and from what Allen could tell, Abby, Ziva, Tony, Komui, and Lenalee grouped up. That left Gibbs and Kanda. Poor Gibbs.

Allen turned to face Lavi. "Shut up! I couldn't see for half of the trip! _You're_ the Bookman with a photographic memory, so why don't you work on getting us out of here rather than ridicule me?"

"Speaking of which, are you sure you're okay? Your legs still seem kinda wobbly."

"Don't change the subject, Lavi." Right after he finished his sentence, Allen tripped over his own shaky feet. He face-planted, arms outstretched, and just stayed there for a few seconds before slowly getting up again.

Lavi smiled. "That's what I mean."

Allen sighed. "Lavi, has anyone ever told you that you can be a pain sometimes?"

Lavi put on his "oh, but I'm so _innocent_" smile. "Aw, come on! You know you love me for it!"

Allen rolled his eyes, not saying anything. They continued the walk in silence.

"Um, do you guys have any idea where we're going?"

Lavi turned to face McGee, smiling. "Not a clue!"

* * *

><p>Abby looked around as she walked, trying to find clues as to if this was the way they had walked when they were looking for Allen. But all the buildings looked the same.<p>

Her hands shook as the turned the iPod over in her hands. She'd almost gotten them all killed with that stupid stunt. She knew if she said anything, everyone'd say it was an accident, she had no way of knowing that would happen, yadiyada. If she'd not gone that whole thing could've gone smoother.

Abby continued to look walk, trying to decide which way to go. The group completely split up, to the point where each person was on their own. It would have been nice to have the time alone, except she had to focus on not getting lost—something Abby suspected she had done already.

She looked up from the iPod and saw several doors ahead of her, two of which had makeshift signs above them. She smiled. Now she just had to wait for everyone else to make it here . . . however long _that_ took.

* * *

><p>It took the better part of two hours for Allen, Lavi, and McGee to make it back. If they'd split up, as Abby's group had done, chances were one of them may have made it back before then. But no, they'd stuck together, and were therefore stuck wandering the streets of the Ark for two hours . . . Allen knew Lavi would never let him live this down.<p>

Allen looked around to see who they were missing. According to Abby, Kanda showed up but he continued on into HQ. So that meant they had Kanda, Abby, Ziva, McGee, Gibbs, Lavi, and Allen accounted for. That left Komui, Lenalee, and DiNozzo.

Everyone turned at the sound of footsteps, and Allen gulped when he saw it was Komui—_alone._ That couldn't bode well.

Komui stopped in front of the group, quickly looking at everyone who was here. _Wait for it . . ._

"Where's Lenalee?" Komui looked at Allen skeptically, as though Allen knew the answer.

"Um, she must still be out," Allen answered, his voice showing his nervousness. _Wait for it . . ._

"Tony's still gone, too." Ziva didn't realize that she'd just unleashed the beast with her simple comment. To a normal person, it was simply a statement saying that there were two party members missing, rather than just one. But Komui was no normal person.

Komui's eyes went wide. "You mean my sweet Lenalee is with that—no! I shall rectify this!" Komui started storming towards the door to HQ.

Allen quickly tackled him, managing to knock him to the ground. "Timcanpy! Find Lenalee! Lavi, go with him!"

Lavi nodded, turning to run away from the group with Timcanpy above his head. Gibbs and Ziva went with him.

"That slimy octopus—I shall come to my dear sister's aid!" Even with all of Allen's weight on top of him, Komui was not only able to speak fine, but he was pulling himself across the ground toward HQ. He reached the doorway with surprising haste, and Allen's eyes went wide.

Komui managed to reach the stairs, and tumbled down them, Allen still clinging to him. When they reached the bottom, Komui landed right on top of Allen, all but crushing him, and knocking the wind out of him. Komui somewhat slowly stood and jogged away, leaving Allen lying on his back staring straight up.

"Allen, are you okay?" Abby appeared in the doorway in his peripheral vision.

"Eeeeeehhhhhhhhhh" was all he could manage to say.

Abby ran down the stairs as Allen rolled over, gasping as air filled his lungs. Komui was freaking _heavy_!

"Are you okay?" Abby kneeled next to Allen, who was on his hands and knees.

He weakly raised an arm in the direction Komui went. "We ha—stop hi—" He still couldn't talk, nor communicate exactly how screwed they were.

McGee, Abby, and Allen all looked panic when they heard Komui's evil laugh emanating from one of the large hallways—accompanied by the sound of a machine of some sort. Maybe a robot.

Yep. They were screwed.

* * *

><p>Lavi looked around several times. He had a really bad feeling that something bad was about to happen.<p>

This was just great. As if it wasn't bad enough having to _find_ the doorway, Lavi now had to find someone _else_ who was still searching for the exit. Although this time the fate of the world was resting on his success.

"Lenaleeeeeeeeeeee," Lavi shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. Ziva was shouting Tony's name at equal volume.

"What exactly happens if we don't find them," Ziva asked after several minutes of searching.

"Basically, we're dead. Komui's pretty . . . um . . . _protective_ of Lenalee. And um, let's just say he has extreme methods of showing his affection . . ." The explanation was vague, and probably meant little to Ziva and Gibbs. But they would know what Lavi was talking about if they couldn't find Tony and—

"Lavi?"

Lavi turned his head. He felt a wave of relief rush over him as he saw Lenalee standing there facing him.

She turned her head away from Lavi. "Tony! Here!" DiNozzo appeared next to Lenalee. "Have you found the door?"

"Yeah, you're the only two who haven't shown up. We'd better hurry, though. Komui's a little . . . um, worried."

Lenalee's face showed that she knew exactly what Lavi was talking about. "Let's go, then."

The two missing people found, they all started fast-walking in the direction from where Lavi, Gibbs, and Ziva had come. This time Lavi had made sure to remember which way they needed to go.

Then they heard it.

* * *

><p>"Komui, please! I'm sure nothing happened! Please just power it down!"<p>

Komui was standing on a control platform built into the chest of the robot. "No filthy octopus can put its hands on my sweet, innocent Lenalee and live to tell the tale! I should think you would remember this, Allen."

Oh yes, he remembered _quite_ well. He could never forget all the time trying to get those stupid octopi off his head back before they met Krory.

Regardless, Allen couldn't let Komui tear up the Ark with his latest full-sized Sir Komlin V. This one looked more human—at least compared to the other 4 Sir Komlins Komui had created.

"Komui, I'm going to have to destroy Komlin no matter what! The only question is are you going to be on it when it explodes or not?"

Komui's facial expression went from anger at his murdering of Tony being impeded to an evil smile that Allen knew all too well.

"Sir Komlin, get rid of this pest!" At Komui's command, the robot reached an arm towards Allen. Allen tried to run away as fast as he could, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to get far. He dove to the ground, trying to get a good grip on the stones that were on the ground. Komlin grabbed his left leg, and Allen panicked. He extended his right arm, and Clown Belt extended toward the white beam-like structure that connected two buildings from opposite sides of the street.

"Komui!" Allen was now completely stuck in midair. With Komlin pulling on his left leg trying to make Clown Belt loose grip, and Clown Belt trying to stay strong so Allen wouldn't be thrown or whatever Komlin was planning on doing to him, he was unable to reach the arm and attack it, even with Edge End activated.

Though, at this point, he was in trouble. If Komlin let go, if he didn't react fast, Allen would be catapulted toward the ground. And if Clown Belt failed, he would be catapulted across the Ark. Either way, he owed Komui a sock to the jaw.

Then he heard the fast-paced footsteps. Someone was running towards him. He looked down and saw Lenalee and the others who'd gone running towards Komlin. Her Dark Boots were activated. This made twice that she'd come to his rescue today. He owed her something for that . . . and he doubted knocking Komui out for a few hours would do the trick.

Lenalee launched herself up to the control platform, standing next to Komui with a more-than-annoyed facial expression. Komui was inching away from her, knowing what was coming next.

"Allen! Down here!" Allen looked down at the ground right in front of him, seeing Lavi standing there. His arms were open, as though he were offering to catch Allen.

Allen gave him a yeah-right look, then he heard an explosion and Komlin released his foot. He widened his eyes as he realized that now Clown Belt was the only thing pulling on him, and he was launched forward. He saw Lavi's eye go wide as he realized he what was going on, but couldn't get out of the way in time.

Allen's forehead collided with Lavi's sternum, and they were both sent tumbling away from Komlin and the others. They finally came to a halt, each Exorcist moaning. Allen opened his eyes so he could see to get up. He'd landed on top of Lavi, who was coughing. Allen tried to get up, only to realize he couldn't move. Clown Belt was tangled up around them. He tried to deactivate it, but it wasn't working. _Great_ . . .

"Can you get off?" Lavi's voice suggested that it was hard for him to draw breath. Allen understood—and wanted to get off—but it was a little impossible at that particular moment.

"Does it _look_ like I can get off?"

"Do you need help?" Allen and Lavi both looked at Abby as she approached.

"Yes please!" Their unison earned them a smile before she bent down to try and unravel them.

Everyone else—except for Komui, he was probably over by Sir Komlin's remains crying—ran up, stopping behind Abby.

"Wow, that looks, um . . . awkward." Tony stood with his left arm across his stomach and his right hand on his chin as he spoke. McGee stopped next to him, mimicking the pose.

"I will agree with you, Tony. _Very_ awkward."

"Can you just help? Please?" The desperation in Lavi's voice was matched only by his annoyance.

Ziva kneeled on the opposite side of Allen to Abby, helping to get them untangled from Clown Belt.

"Nah, it's okay. You already have two people working on it. We'd only get in the way—"

"DiNozzo."

"Yes, Boss." Tony walked over to help without even turning to look at Gibbs. He started trying to get the Innocence off their legs.

McGee stayed in place. Gibbs walked up next to him, and when McGee looked over at him, he gave McGee a "what're you doing here staring at me?" look. "You too, McGee."

"Um, yes, Boss." He joined Tony.

It took several minutes to get the Exorcists untangled, and once they were Allen deactivated Clown Belt.

"Could you—" Lavi's voice was strained but he was motioning backward with his hand. Allen pushed himself off Lavi's chest, allowing him to breathe again, and sat back on his legs. Something felt weird though—it felt like he was still sitting on Lavi. He looked down and saw what Tony and McGee had meant by "awkward". Allen was stratling Lavi's legs.

Allen tried to stand, but he'd been immobile for so long that his legs had gone to sleep—probably why he didn't realize his landing position earlier.

Lavi looked down. "Wow, this is—" He was cut off by Allen crawling on his hands and knees across Lavi's body, planting a knee in his stomach along the way to cut off his sentence.

"Are you guys okay?" Allen and Lavi both nodded at Ziva's question.

"We'll live," Lavi said. "Albeit with a few more scrapes and bruises. Dang, Allen, you're _heavy_!"

"Yeah, and you're not all that comfortable to land on, either. In fact, you're quite _boney_."

The girls laughed as they helped them stand.

The group walked back to the intersection between the path that led to the Black Order HQ door and the doorway to 2011 Washington DC. Lenalee said thank you to the NCIS team for helping get Allen back, and Tony for the "interesting talk about American cinema" before heading back to HQ with Komui.

Allen and Lavi walked with the NCIS team back to the Washington DC door, remembering that it was a long drop and someone could get hurt. They all stopped in front of the door to say their goodbyes. Lavi enlarged his hammer to be able to fit the team on the top.

Tony apologized to Lavi for not trusting him, or something like that, then walked to the back of the group. Ziva was next, and she apologized for scaring the living daylights out of them. She also thanked Allen for saving her from the Akuma's bullet. McGee thanked them for an exciting day out of the NCIS building.

Abby's goodbye was by far the most emotional. She'd become good friends with the Exorcists, even if they did only know each other for one day.

"First off, I'm so sorry for almost getting you killed, Allen. I really feel bad."

"It wasn't your fau—"

"Don't interrupt me." Abby put a finger up to stop him. "Also, thank you for probably the most intriguing day I've ever had."

Lavi smiled, closing his eye. "Well, we certainly didn't _plan_ on today being that intriguing, but thank you all for a day to remember, as well."

Allen nodded, agreeing with Lavi. "And thank you for coming to help me."

"_Help_? Come on, give us some credit, we _saved _you."

"Fine. Thank you for _saving_ me."

Lavi's smile widened, satisfied. "No problem." Allen glared at him.

Abby suddenly stepped forward, hugging them both at once. Usually, Allen wasn't much of a hug-person, but, seeing as they would never see each other again, Allen could handle it. Something was pressed into his hand, and he wrapped his fingers around it. There must've been a reason that she didn't give it to him where everyone could see, so he made sure not to drop it.

"Thank you two. I'll never forget today."

"Yeah," they both said, their timing off slightly, but their voices both sounding chocked up.

Abby pulled away. "Guess we'd better, uh, get going then, huh?" Everyone sighed and nodded. The NCIS team stood by the doorway, waiting for Lavi to push the hammerhead outside. Once he did so, they stepped onto it, and Lavi extended the handle.

"Oh!" About halfway to the ground Abby looked up at the Exorcists again. "Thank you for helping me with my outfit!" The three of them smiled.

Once the hammer reached the ground and the team stepped off, Lavi returned it to its holster size. Allen and Lavi exchanged glances, nodded, then Allen pulled the door shut.

He opened his hand to see what Abby had given him. It was silver on one side, black on the other, and had some sort of wire-thing wrapped around it.

It was the object Abby had dropped earlier.

He pushed the button on the front a couple times, and an image appeared on the black side. The picture was of a young boy holding a cord of some kind, and above him was the text "Skillet" and "Comatose". At the top of the screen was the time, and below it the text "Whispers in the Dark". Allen decided he would figure out how the device worked later.

He put it in his pocket as they started walking back to HQ.

* * *

><p>"There you two are!"<p>

They looked at Reever as he stopped in front of them, a large box in his arms.

"I would love to hear the story as to where you've been, but for right now, just start grabbing boxes." His voice was less than enthusiastic.

The Exorcists looked at each other, sighed, then joined everyone else in moving boxes.

They moved stuff nonstop into the wee hours of the night, and at about 1:45 Allen was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Without even knowing where he was, he just sat down, set the box he was carrying down, and used the nearest stack of books as a pillow. He fell asleep right away.

Next thing he knew, Reever was yelling at him, calling him an idiot and telling him to wake up. Then he hit the ground, and he felt some sort of liquid on his head. He put his hand down to stand, but stopped when his hand touched hair. What the—? He looked down at it, and saw that it was white . . . like . . .

He put his hand to his head, and as he combed his fingers through his hair his fear was confirmed. His long hair flew behind him as he ran around, screaming in a frenzy. He ran into a little kid with red hair, knocking them both on the ground. Allen saw the eye patch and the clothes that were too big for the kid and realized it was Lavi.

"This day just gets better and better," they both muttered in unison.

* * *

><p>~One week later~<p>

"Ya know, Abby hiding in her lab all the time is almost worse than her rubbing in our faces that she won."

"Almost like she's too good to hang out with us since she won?"

"Exactly."

Ziva looked at Tim and Tony skeptically. "You guys know Abby's not like that. She's probably just working on a personal project."

The guys exchanged glances, their faces saying that Ziva was probably right.

"Ya have to wonder, though . . ."

"Come on, Probie, we're going on a mission." Tony stood as he spoke. McGee joined him in his quickened stride to the elevator.

Ziva rolled her eyes. Did they really think she didn't know where they were going? She stood up to join them.

Moments later they were peeking around the corner to the doorway in Abby's lab. They were careful not to make noise as they watched her doing something at her computer. Tony quietly stepped around McGee and Ziva, tiptoeing as he approached the dooway. He took one step inside the room.

"Tony, I know that's you."

"How?"

McGee and Ziva gave him a "well-DUH" look.

"I just do."

Their cover blown, the three stepped into the room and walked over Abby.

"What're you doing?" Ziva studied the computer screen, but she didn't recognize the site Abby was on.

"There is absolutely no mention of the Black Order anywhere. It's as if it never existed."

"Maybe it didn't." McGee's remark was met with Abby's "seriously?" expression.

"Why did the Black Order even exist," Ziva asked.

Abby though back to her conversation with the Exorcists at lunch. "To fight the Millennium Earl and Akuma."

Ziva shrugged. "Then maybe they succeeded. Maybe they destroyed this Millennium Earl, and, with their purpose completed, closed down the Order."

"Maybe . . ." The group stood in silence for several minutes, the curiosity as to what happened to the Order affecting everyone.

"Why don't we go get some food?" Everyone except for Abby jumped at Gibbs's question.

Tony looked confused. "How—"

"Sounds good to me." Abby smiled as she hopped off her chair and grabbed her jacket. "It's on you guys."

"Why us?"

"Because I won, McGee."

Everyone just smiled.

* * *

><p>I realize Abby never mentioned liking Skillet, but I love them so much that I couldn't resist ^_^<p>

Wow, a lot's happened since my last update . . . About a month ago I pieced together my casual Allen Walker cosplay . . . and this past week was my first week in my new (and gi-normous) school . . . Okay, so not a lot, but just big stuff ^_^

So, this was kinda a longer chapter ^_^ 3500 words w/o the Author's note. And this is my first time actually writing a conclusion to a story like this. Was it okay? I just couldn't resist putting Sir Komlin in there ^_^ And in the end I tied it in with the manga to try and get a sense of the timeline . . . and it just worked XD

Oh, and I must say, I'm not big on yaoi, so yeah. I don't even know where that bit with Allen and Lavi tangled up came from . . .

I'm curious, what was your favorite chapter?

Thank you guys so much for all the reviews ^_^ It really encouraged me to keep writing. And thank you to everyone who clarified stuff and all that ^_^

And only one flame! Yippee!

And side-note, I still have to freaking idea why I made the battles so hard on poor Allen. Seriously, I could have had the Level 2 evolve into a Level 3 and it would've made more sense . . .


End file.
